‘Independence Day 2 & 3′ Plot Details Revealed

The citizens of Earth have had almost 20 years of peace since their planet was rudely invaded by aliens on July 4th, 1996, but recently, there has been talk from director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin that the victory might not last much longer. Two sequels to Independence Day are currently in the works and awaiting a green light from 20th Century Fox. It may well be that the studio is keeping a close eye on the success of Emmerich’s most recent project, White House Down, before giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to Indendence Day 2 and 3, A.K.A. ID Forever Part I and II.

It seems that Emmerich himself is confident enough to start divulging details, or at least savvy enough to start generating hype for the Independence Day sequels by releasing a few intriguing snippets of information.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Emmerich has happily provided solid answers to some of the biggest questions that fans of the original film have had. One of the biggest uncertainties regarding the plot is whether the story would pick up immediately after the events of the first film or twenty years later. According to Emmerich, the answer is is both:

“The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back. And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.”

The Independence Day sequels being set only twenty years after the events of the first film will mean that by the time they (potentially) gets a theatrical release they will more or less be set in the present day, but Emmerich claims that the films will also have a distinctly futuristic feel. Based on a “what if…?” scenario of what might have happened to our history if we’d discovered advanced technology back in the nineties, the story will see humanity far more prepared for an invasion than they were in the original film. Says Emmerich:

“It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. [Humans] have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane.”

Despite the progress that has been made, Emmerich insists that the fight won’t be an easy one, saying that, “We’ve rebuilt. But [the aliens] also do different things.” If only two or three weeks have passed from the aliens’ perspective, it’s doubtful that they’ve had time to come up with any new major advances themselves, which can only mean that they weren’t bringing out the big guns the first time around. Perhaps the first Independence Day was just a warm-up.

When we first heard rumors about this project several years ago, the impression we got from Fox was that they did not consider Will Smith’s return to be necessary for the film, perhaps due to the large price tag that inevitably comes with hiring such a consistently successful star. It’s unclear whether this was a factor or not, but Emmerich implies that he has written a story which will allow new stars to shine by focusing on characters who would have been children during the first invasion.

“It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over. The first one ends on a little success, but only enough to give the humans hope. And then in the second one they free themselves again [from the aliens].”

The word “new” seems to imply that the younger heroes will be characters that we haven’t seen before, but there are a couple of candidates from Independence Day who could easily make a return as adults. The two prominent child characters from the 1996 movie were Patricia Whitmore (Mae Whitman), the daughter of the president, and Captain Steven Hiller’s stepson Dylan, played by Will Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel Air co-star, Ross Bagley.

Though Bagley has more or less lapsed from the acting world and is mostly remembered for his child star roles in films like Little Rascals, Emmerich confirmed that Dylan makes a return in the latest version of the script. Mae Whitman is still very active and recently appeared in Arrested Development(her?),Scott Pilgrimvs. the World, and Parenthood. Might there be room in Emmerich’s customary cast-of-thousands for this familiar face to play the part of a heroine?

To quote Bill Pullman, who recently confirmed his involvement in the project: “Nobody’s holding their breath because [the sequels have] been continuallyplagued.” So don’t assume that the movie is definitely going to make it out of development hell at this point.Dean Devlin has said that he and Emmerich are not interested in making the sequels just to squeeze a little bit of money out of the Independence Day name; rather, they just have a genuine, creative interest in continuing the story. Whether or not you agree with that no doubt depends on your opinion of the original. It should be noted that Emmerich has yet to make a film as successful as his 1996 blockbuster, at least financially-speaking (The Patriot has a slightly better Rotten Tomatoes score), which might explain Fox’s trepidation.

Are you excited for ID Forever Part I & II and, if so, who would you like to see return for the second invasion (aside from the aliens, of course)? Let us know what you think in the comments.

We’ll keep you up to date on any further developments regarding Independence Day 2 & 3.

Agreed one of my top 10 favorite movies. I always wanted them to make a sequal every time I watched the movie I always wondered were thoose all the aliens will more show they could make a great sequal I always thaught

Some people keep putting Independence Day down but on its release it was an awesome blockbuster spectacle & no-one since has rivalled the scope of that alien invasion….it is epic & was a game changer & just a good fun popcorn movie adventure & the cast was so cool to. I hope Roland ups the ante & gets to carry on the epic scope of Independence Day with a continued story arc with great old & new characters & mind blowing visuals & a fun story…..that’s what he rocks at….can’t wait to see it

Independence is one of my favorite popcorn films. Cant wait for the sequels. I hope Will Smith returns because that would make it all the better. But i guess i could survive watching it without him. I would be interesting to see the kids from the first all grown up. they wouldnt necessarily need the same actors though.

I think will smith will return! because he turned down django unchained because he wasent the star and in the this film it was basically on him mostly! so it should be good! offer him a huge paycheck and we will see will smith dance with the aliens!

Didn’t Roland Emmerich say that after 2012 he wants to quit doing disaster-movies?
I am NOT looking forward this.
2012 and The Day after Tomorrow were already sort of inofficial sequels to Independence Day. C’mon, do something different Roland. Like in your earlier career. With Stargate for example. That was awesome.

White house down is slightly different. Yeah, the white house blows up again. but its a more “smaller” scale film than say 2012. Also havent scene Anonymous but im guessing thats pretty different from his normal films.

I don’t see why a sequel is necessary but even more so, I don’t see why any of the old cast needs to return. In the scope of the invasion itself, their stories were a part of the bigger story but not the only ones. They could easily showcase different characters and I would be completely cool with that.

Their scene together in the ship was classic. Will could be a general or whatever, and Jeff some bigwig White House science advisor. Anyone else could be new faces. I liked ID a lot so wil be interested in seeing what they do with a sequel.

I’d like to see a properly made sequel or sequels as long as it is not a rehash of the first one. I don’t want more aliens to attack Earth in the same way as before. Maybe go into space and eventually to those aliens home planet or something.

Fox has doubts because he hasn’t made a film as successful as Independence Day since then? 2012 made $769 Million world wide. That is nothing to scoff at, and is pretty close to Independence Day’s $817 Million. Any studio would rush to make a film that was even half as successful as that. The Day after tomorrow also made $544 Million, which is still pretty respectable.

So yeah, I don’t think the success of his big budget disaster films is causing Fox any concerns.

The idea of an Independence Day sequel is intriguing. I confess that I wiled a few lazy moments when the movie first came out on what would come up after the defeat of the aliens.

Like someone else mentioned, when Independence Day first came out, I remember people in the movie theater gasping when the big attack was unleashed. So, despite the cheesy dialogue and major leaps in its logic, it was a fun movie to watch. I confess watching it three times when it first came out.

I hope the movie takes a bigger approach of humanity banding together to defeat the aliens vs. the US (with the other countries as props) against the aliens of the original. I’m not expecting a deep philosophical’ or artistic movie, but at least expand on the sequence at the end where all humanity banded together to defeat the aliens.

The problem with Will Smith being the central character in the movie would be that his character would be at least a Colonel, probably a Major General due to the passage of time and the casualties of the first alien attack.

But Will was never the central part of the first one so I don’t see why he would need to be for a sequel. It’s not like Luke Skywalker in Starwars where the story is about him specifically. Will’s character was just a part of a bigger whole. With Will’s mega movie star status as it is today, adding him to the mix would turn a sequel into a vehicle for his career rather than an actual follow up to the invasion storyline itself. I say no Will Smith. Let’s start fresh rather than rehash old stuff.

I can just see it now. The movie begin’s with an intro on the aliens’ homeworld. They despair on what happened some years ago after the bundle on Earth when suddenly, a grunt rushes in to meet the high counsel of elfers with what he calls something that will help them counter the human’s weapon (as translated on the bottom of the screen). As dramatic music begins, he get’s out a box of Norton’s antivirus. The council immediately roars it’s approval, as translated below : “Round two motherf***ers!!”

I’m really not too crazy about these films (in progress) mainly because i dont see the need for a sequel, yeah thats the case often tikes when sequels are made but IMO i feel this is one of the cases where the movie should be left alone. Independence Day was a great movie and despite what Emmerich says im having a hard time believing that he’s not trying to milk every drop possible out of this (future) franchise or that these are going to be ‘original movies’. Personally, i think it’ll more or less be something like this: ‘oh no! They’re back, why werent we prepared?’ then on to ‘our technology is no match for theirs, they STILL outmatch us even with all the time we’ve had!’ from there ‘we gotta fight back!’ and they get their asses pretty much handed to them and finally ‘we mightt be able to win this, if by a miracla’ and by some mystical force the deceat the alien armada planning on killing/enslaving us. I might give them a try (if they even get produced) depending on the trailers and what we see here on SR

I have always wanted to see a sequal. The big question I always had was : How would the sudden influx of alient technology impact our world? Who would control it? Would they use it to go to kick Alien Ass in revenge? Protect our world? Try to use it to save other worlds? It would open a huge door to the universe. It is an idea that has not really been explored much in films.

“It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. [Humans] have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane.”

We can’t duplicate it in 2013 — but we can interpret, infect, and corrupt a completely foreign operating system in a matter of hours thanks to Jeff Goldblum’s genius circa 1996!!!!! Emmerich strikes again!!!!!!

wasn’t it said in the first film the alien’s “entire civilation” was going from planet to planet, and that they destroyed them at the end of the movie? it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie, but I do remember that being said in the film. curious….